Sudan Archives

As Sudan Archives, Brittney Parks has combined left-field strains of R&B, hip-hop, and experimental electronic music with hypnotic string loops and the fiddling style of West Africa, as heard on a pair of EPs and her debut full-length, Athena (2019). She masterfully bridged the gap between her early glitchy, avant-garde compositions and timeless songwriting on the “stunning, reflective” (Pitchfork) Athena, and returned in 2022 with two new songs (Home Maker, Selfish Soul).The self-taught violinist, singer, songwriter, and producer started playing violin in her native Cincinnati, Ohio. After Parks moved to Los Angeles to study music technology, she started producing beats on a tablet computer with the addition of her vocals and strings, the latter increasingly inspired by immersion in Sudanese music. For her first LP (Athena), she took a collaborative approach and worked with a group of fellow producers who included Paul White, Rodaidh McDonald, and Wilma Archer after self-producing her first two EP’s.

“A swaggering statement of intent with all the idiosyncratic charm that makes her music so memorable” – Pitchfork (Best New Track, 2022)

“The US singer and violinist’s debut album contains some of the most viscerally gorgeous music put to record this year” – The Guardian
“Athena is … a record of true beauty and resilience.” – CRACK